We tried many dinner dishes...
Reviewer: Sal
from Santa Barbara, CA
3 of us went for dinner over at Saffron.
We are a Mexican, a Chinese, and an Italian, and we dig Ethnic a lot. Naturally we were skeptical about a place with a menu containing such a variety.
We tried Moroccon Halibut, Hanger steak, Italian salad, Thai rolls, wine. We liked everything: and each dish had good presentation and great taste. The dishes were not extreme and they are most definitely a good intro to the different cuisines.
The ingredients were clearly fresh and the prices were moderate (frankly we expected higher prices for what we got, especially with respect with what you get on State Street!).
We are definitely going back, and we recommend Saffron based on our first experience. So why 4 out of 5 on food? I would like to see more spice, but in all fairness, Saffron does deliver what they claim!!!
BTW, Joanne was our host and she gave us a 5-star treatment for the whole evening from a tasty appetizer on-the-house to letting us stay 45 minutes past closing time!

Not terrible, but not going back
Reviewer: Joe
from Santa Barbara, CA
The best part of the meal was...the opening drink. The Japanese vodka martini was smooth and I'm going to buy a bottle for my home as soon as i can find it. The next few courses I could've skipped and been much happier. Over done meat, and bland almost watery soup. The meal picked up again at the end when they brought out the original rhubarb soup with Green Tea Sorbet...it was a nice light dessert...
Overall, paying $90 for two, to enjoy only a drink and dessert...no thanks.

I love Barry and Joanne
Reviewer: A. Cruz
from Santa Barbara, CA
If you're looking for stuck up, unapproachable staff do not come to Saffron. However, if you are looking for a pleasant warm experience by all means try this restaurant. The first time I went was for an anniversary dinner. The food was excellent and the service was wonderful. I went back a second time for lunch and it exceeded my expectations once again. Great flavor and service. All around great experience. And Chef Barry has come out to greet us every time!

Save yourself
Reviewer: ann
from Santa Barbara, CA
Eager to support a new, innovative, what appeared to be a family owned restaurant, my 18 year old daughter and I stopped in. I suppose the overall summary would be a very expensive "hokey" experience all the way around. The $5.00 retail bottles of wine found at Trader Joe's was shockingly served at $20. glass, the owner doesn't have a sense of client spacial space or any sense of professionalism, the attempt for constructive advice seemed offensive, over priced food that ultimately comes off as an experiment of the moment.

You Must Be Kindding...
Reviewer: Allison
from Santa Barbara
My "seared ahi" came out medium rare and cold like it had been cooked the day before. My companion's Chicken was overpowered with garlic, salad had no dressing and none was available. Sides were not memorable.
Besides the food; the service was bizarre. The manager [seemingly] kept hovering and standing right behind our waitress making all of us nervous and uncomfortable. Then she'd kind of creep up to us in the middle of conversation until we asked her what was up - "just checking to see if everything is okay."
Overall; it seems like nobody, including the "chef" has any experience and I'm not wild about paying to be the guinea pig.

Decent food, nice atmosphere
Reviewer: Rick Blain
from Santa Barbara
Just ate at Saffron for the first time with my fiancee. The food was really quite good and the server was friendly. Only complaint is that it was a little slow for the lunch hour, we were hurried to get back to work, but over all it was a nice experience.

Great Dinner
Reviewer: Mark
from Frazier Park, CA
Food was great, service was fantastic,.....

superb dining experience and geat service...
Reviewer: Enrico Buccio
from santa barbara,ca
Who are these people posting these reviews ? lighting, service staff? ok.... if you are having a bad day please don't take it out on Saffron, I ordered the appetizers and they were excellent, the staff was friendly and great and i had the Katafi Crusted Halibut and it was delicious.believe me i have eaten in many restaurants and Saffron is on my top 5 list.
I will be back for sure and although they have just opened they will be a five star soon.

Oh my God!!!
Reviewer: Tony
from SB CA
Who are these people that open restaurants and do not have clue?! Entree arrived 45 minutes after ordering with only one other table in the room. Food was cold and over cooked. Ingredients on the plate were different from what was listed on the menu. It was as if the dishwasher doubled as the chef!
Sevice or lack there of was inexperienced. . . missing even the simplest of things. Just take a little more time and train your staff.
I believe in letting new restaurants work out the kinks but in this case. . . I would throw the entire chain in the trash and start again.

Beach Boys Music & Fusion???
Reviewer: Monica
from Goleta, CA
We saw Saffron on the website Friday and decided to give it a try...The menu looked creative. I like to try many new things so I ordered the saffron rice, the italian summer salad and the asparagus sides ...the service was very slow and I agree ALL servers seemed to lack experience ..The beach boys music was blasting from a speaker just above our heads...I asked twice for it to please be turned down before it was....They brought my 3 sides on 1 plate= cold and dry rice, cold overcooked asparagus and a salad that looked NOTHING like what I'd ordered (full of squash and mixed greens) I asked for the menu, re-read it and knew they had given me the wrong thing. I asked to correct it if they had the correct salad ingredients and then spooned the asparagus and rice onto my bread plate so I would at least have something to eat. They brought back the salad like 10 minutes later and had ADDED to the same salad cold, unripe tomatoes (not in the italian salad on the menu) and OLD mushrooms (spotted, time to toss...) I asked them to take it away. Did I mention it was the same old salad with added ingredients and it was on the same plate with the old rice ??? I was very sad...the menu seemed so inviting...the music, bad service and really odd food means we will also NOT be back....did I mention I ordered the pomegranate drink and they were out of p. but added cranberries to it?? totally odd and not worth the time or money....

New restaurant, let them work out the kinks
Reviewer: Marlene
from Santa Barbara, CA
I had lunch at Saffron the other day. We had the shrimp and spring roll appetizer which was a much larger portion than expected but very tasty. The shrimp weren't overcooked, which several restaurants tend to do.
I had the ahi sandwich which was great, the seaweed salad was good but it was the same stuff you get at any sushi place or Lazy Acres deli section. My friend had the clams/chorizo in broth and that was nice as well.
The place is small and the layout is unusual. They need some kind of podium or a host/hostes that is always there. We had to walk into the kitchen when we arrived to find someone and make sure they were open and get a seat. We saw two people that entered, looked around, and then left while we were dining. There are some minor kinks to work out but it was an othwerwise nice experience and they should be a 5 star rating soon enough!

I will NEVER return to Saffron!
Reviewer: La Tigra
from Santa Barbara, CA
YUCK! Honestly, I have never written a review but my experience at saffron was terrible. Along with 4 friends, we thought we'd give the new restaurant a try - as we always do when a great new place opens in SB...we like most, but NOT Saffron.
Beginning with harsh lighting, odd table placement (three of us looked directly at the wall??), no menus, a nervous & inexperienced waiter, awful dinnerware... So, we were very interested to change our minds as we patiently waited FOREVER for our food to arrive. When my plate arrived it smelled only of over-cooked broccoli. All of my veggies were horribly overcooked & my steak (ordered medium) was the rarest I've ever seen - bleeding all over my plate. Besides a great Thai soup, none of us were at all pleased with our meals.
All in all, a horrible experience for all of us. For $100+ a couple, this place seemed more like a mom & pop cafe that should be 1/2 the price for the service, ambiance & food. I will NEVER return to Saffron.